The pantless Swan Taxi driver who picked up a number of people around Perth on Sunday morning. Photo: Jessie Gravett

Lady Gaga can be forgiven for forgetting to wear pants - but a cab driver?

A 21-year-old Perth woman on her way home from a night out with friends was picked up in early hours of Sunday morning by a Swan Taxis driver who appeared to not be wearing pants.

Jessie Gravett booked a taxi using the Swan Taxis App about 12.30am from a North Perth house and was shocked to discover the driver was apparently not wearing pants.

Ms Gravett then captured photos of the man on her smart phone. He was also barefoot and his driver identification was allegedly hidden from view.

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"There is possibly a legitimate reason for the lack of pants but if I would think he would stop driving and be a professional about it. Not pick girls up," she told WAtoday.com.au.

"I didn't take much notice of the driver when I got in, just shut the door and confirmed my drop off address in Spearwood, 35 minutes away.

"I immediately messaged my friends so they could keep tabs on me. I didn't want to draw attention to his lack of pants because I was unsure how he would react. I was very uncomfortable.

"I put my keys between my fingers and unzipped my sharp studded boots because I wasn't sure what his intentions were and I wanted to be prepared in case I needed to defend myself."

After arriving home safely she lodged a formally complaint and has submitted a statement to the Department of Transport.

"When I called they [Swan Taxis] said he had someone else in the car already for another job so at least they had track of him," she added.

When questioned about the incident by WAtoday.com.au Swan Taxis director Kevin Foley said the issue was now being investigated by the Department of Transport.

The driver has told his superiors he was wearing shorts.

According to the official taxi driver code of conduct distributed by the Department of Transport, a driver can be fined $200 for failing to wear regulation uniform, which must be "clean and in good repair" and must "wear the approved uniform in a neat and tidy manner".

The department has been in contact with Ms Gravett today and has said it would conduct an interview with the driver in question in the coming days.

"Based on the outcome of the investigation the driver may be subject to a License Suitability Conference, which will examine his suitability to hold a T extension [taxi licence]," the department told WAtoday.com.au via written statement this afternoon.

The statement also highlighted the importance of continuing installation of taxi camera surveillance units in cars, which the department feels will "simplify investigations and reduce the number of 'word against word' cases".

"It should be noted that taxi drivers are far more likely to be the victim of a crime, rather than a perpetrator, and as such the cameras are most likely to be used in identifying a crime against a taxi driver," the statement read.

The "pantless" allegations come a day after a psychiatrist at a Perth's women's health care centre advised women to re-think plans to take taxis home if they had been drinking alcohol.

74 comments

Shorts and shirt, in Winter? Licence card hidden from view?

I'm stopping using Swan taxi's until this is sorted out.

Commenter

Liam B

Location

Perth

Date and time

August 15, 2012, 9:46AM

Of course, everything that should be on show is hidden except what should be! Australia's taxi industry exposed for the nth time in recent years for plumbing new lows. Do our police ever bother to randomly pull up cabs to check that their IDs and uniform are in order? Cabbies these days seem to treat the law and public standards with contempt.

Commenter

Taxis in Australia

Location

A Third World Disgrace

Date and time

August 15, 2012, 10:00AM

He was wearing short shorts like any girl. Why are they telling us how to dress?

Commenter

.bg

Date and time

August 15, 2012, 10:54AM

So this poor cabbie -- who's asserting that he was wearing shorts -- should dress uncomfortably while working a midnight shift? So how was Ms Gravett dressed? Was she wearing a long sleeved shirt and trousers? If the cabbie refused her passage for wearing skimpy clothing, would he again be in the wrong? Would he be punished for telling a women what to do with her body? Double standards a bit much in this country, lately.

Commenter

Trevor

Location

Sydney

Date and time

August 15, 2012, 8:40PM

OK do a pair of stubbies ain't that new to Australian blokes. The article doesn't specify but I assume they're not part of the regulation uniform. But the poor bloke has a lady sitting in the passenger seat taking photos of him. In the australian workplace there are privacy laws about covert photography in the work place. I know who would be prosecuting who if the other party was taking the photo, he might have grounds here. And I hope WA Today also got his written consent for publishing the photo.

Commenter

Tonster

Location

Perth

Date and time

August 16, 2012, 6:40PM

Perth, you seem to have a problem. First in the taxi driver that certainly appears to have not worn even shorts. Secondly in the number of commentators that say because she wasn't raped, there was no problem and even attacking her for taking a photo. The taxi is part of Public Transport, she is in a public place and has evidence in the photo as to what she saw, or didn't see. ie appropriate clothing. Of course he tries to 'cover up' by saying he was wearing shorts, but even Warren Capper's shorts would have been visible in the photo. Have none of the apologists ever heard of the sexual assaults on single females being assaulted by taxi drivers when on their way home from partying and under the influence of alcohol?Jessie was right to photograph the driver. By the angle, she was in the back seat, not next to the driver, so the absence of trousers or shorts would not have been evident when she first got in. No, this driver seems to be getting a thrill of a sexual nature. While every taxi driver has the right to feel safe in their job, every passenger has the same equal right when in a taxi.Jessie clearly did not, and for good reason.

Commenter

Quantum of Solace

Date and time

August 22, 2012, 7:01AM

Sure, maybe the precious princess's sensibilities were offended, but the cabbie didn't molest her, or make any threats to, so I don't really see the problem when the bloke is just trying to make a living.

No talk here of the drunk and disorderly behaviour that cabbies put up with from the likes of the precious princesses friends on a daily basis at those times of the morning. Drivers run the risk of being punched, of people vomiting in their cabs and doing a runner without paying. These things happen to some cabby every day of the week and I don't see an article about this.

Commenter

juan antonio

Location

sydney

Date and time

August 15, 2012, 10:05AM

@Juan, the problem is that he should have been wearing pants! The problem these days with society is that we "just accept" the inappropriate behaviour. Earning a living or not, unless you are a lifeguard or bikini model, all other professions should be wearing pants to work!

Commenter

Mal

Location

Sydney

Date and time

August 15, 2012, 10:17AM

Ah, so anything goes as long as no-one gets hurt? Excellent.

Commenter

Ace

Location

Sydney

Date and time

August 15, 2012, 10:18AM

There are lots of incidents with dodgy cabbies these days but passengers usually decide its not worth going through the bother of a complaint which at most will deliver a slap on th wrist with a feather, if anything is done, which is unlikely.The point is that such incidents show the total contempt that the driver has towards his passengers and is something that should make an intelligent woman nervous.